USA most popular destination for Brits moving abroad

According to a new survey by international removals company Robinsons, almost half of UK residents have “seriously considered” moving overseas to another country to start a new life.

An astounding 46% of survey respondents said that they’d thought about moving to another country, while 54% sated that they either hadn’t considered moving abroad or had considered the idea but not taken it seriously.

27% of the respondents that answered in the affirmative said that they would like to move to the United States. Other popular relocation countries includes Spain, France and Australia, which received 14, 13 and 11 per cent, respectively.

The appeal of the United States for Brits moving abroad

27% of Brits who’ve expressed interest in moving to another country would choose the United States.

Although European countries such as France and Spain might be closed to home, the United States consistently outranked them in Robinsons Removals’ survey, for what we suspect are several reasons.

The USA’s huge geographic variation – from mountainous areas in states like Utah and Colorado to tropical Florida and Hawaii – makes it an appealing destination for people seeking a more varied climate than what the UK has to offer.

The lack of any language barrier also makes the United States and appealing country for Brits to relocate to. One of the most popular reasons for people not to move away from the UK was the language barrier – a non-issue in the United States.

Despite opinions, Australia remains the most popular destination

Although the United States, France and Spain beat Australia by a significant margin in public opinion, Australia remains the most popular destination for Brits moving abroad, according to Robinsons’ Managing Director Anthony Robinson.

Mr Robinson says that the results of the research were surprising, although the high cost of living in Australia – caused largely by economic growth and an increasingly expensive housing market – could explain its reduced appeal compared to the USA.

Mr Robinson believes future movement trends will show whether the desire survey respondents stated to move to the USA will become reality: “It will be interesting to see if our physical movements start to bear this out.”

Canada, Germany, Italy and New Zealand in Top 10 destinations

The popularity of the United States – as well as well-known destinations close to the UK such as Spain and France – isn’t surprising. However, some lesser known, as well as less expected, results appeared within the list of 10 most desirable countries.

Canada was the fifth-most-popular destination for Brits wishing to move overseas, with 9% of the vote. Germany, Italy and New Zealand were listed from fifth through seventh, with eight, six and three per cent of the vote.

India and Sweden were ninth and tenth in the list of the most desirable countries for Brits to relocate to, with one per cent of the vote each. Six per cent of people picked other destinations as their dream countries to live and work in overseas.

If you were to move abroad, which country would you choose?

From the United States to Australia, France, India, Brazil and more than 100 other countries, the world is full of exciting destinations to move to, whether to develop your career or simply to change your lifestyle.

If you were to move abroad, which country would you choose? Would you choose the size and huge geographic diversity of the United States, the food and culture of Spain or the great qualities of another country?